Page 25 of The Last Dance You Saved
Adam poured water from a larger bottle, added a lemon slice, and fixed a shot of whiskey for himself before joining me where I stood staring up at a large painting hanging over the fireplace. The woman was dark-haired with chocolate-brown eyes and a smile that seemed all mischief. She wore an elegant evening gown, and a layered necklace sparkling with diamonds hung around her neck.
It wasn’t exactly the necklace from Great-grandma’s trunk, but it had the same yellow diamonds mixed in with the standard white. The gems were large and square cut, and the setting was a similar, almost gaudy, Art Deco style.
“Beatrice Harrington,” he said with a wave. “She married the man who won the ranch from my idiotic great-grandfather. She was quite a bit younger than him, an up-and-coming actress who he snatched from Hollywood’s grips and then wilted away here.”
His voice held a calm that contrasted with his words. Unlike Lauren, who’d simply stated the facts of how their family had lost the land, Adam didn’t seem to feel quite the same way. And yet, there wasn’t bitterness in his tone as much as a sense of wonder at the stupidity of those who’d come before them.
“She’s beautiful,” I said. “The diamonds on the necklace are from here?”
He nodded, turning to assess me. “Lauren will be here any second, and I’d prefer not to talk about the jewelry with her. If it turns out the set you have is truly the jewelry stolen from the Harringtons in the forties, it could mean everything or nothing.”
My heart skipped a beat, my stomach plummeted, and my palms instantly turned sweaty. “So there were some actually stolen?”
“Yes. A set had been loaned to a movie studio and then disappeared. That’s all I know so far. I need to dig through more paperwork to see if I can figure it out in detail. The truth is, we could use the money if the jewels you’ve found belong to the family. They’ve already sold most of the last remaining diamonds—that necklace in the painting included—but the ranch is still struggling.
“I’ve been trying for a year to get Spence and Lauren to consider some drastic changes like the ones your family made in turning your farm into a resort. The wedding business, while nice, barely helps cover the maintenance of the equipment. In order to really be a successful resort, we’d need to renovate more of the buildings and hire back staff we’ve let go, and that all requires a cash flow we just don’t have. The bank won’t lend us more money as we’re already struggling to meet the payments on a sizeable loan Spence took out a few years ago, so cashing in on the diamonds would likely save the ranch.”
The sick feeling in my stomach grew, my plans whisking away like a dandelion blown in the wind. I wasn’t sure who the jewels belonged to, but knowing the Harringtons needed the money made me want to hand them over now. Except, my family didn’t even know they were real yet. I needed to discuss something this important with them, so we could all come to the same conclusion. It made me sadder than I’d imagined to know my great-grandma really was a thief. But then again, we didn’t have the full story. I could hold out hope for a different answer until all the facts were in front of me.
“Did you bring them with you?” Adam asked. “I’d love to see them in person.”
I shook my head and swallowed over the lump that had grown in my throat. “After I found out how much they were worth, I locked them up in the safe at my bar.”
“After all Lauren has been through this year, I don’t want to get her hopes up until I’m sure the jewelry is really ours.” His tone was sad and hopeful all at the same time.
Did he realize, even if they were the ones taken from the family, they might not be able to keep them? “If the jewelry was stolen, an insurance company might have more right to them than either of our families. You’d need to find out if a claim was filed back then. If there was one, you’d have to buy them back if you wanted to keep them.”
When Adam looked up at me, there was no longer any hope in his expression, and it made me feel horrible all over again. “We definitely couldn’t afford to do that. I guess you can see why it’s important to keep this between the two of us until we know all the details.”
I absolutely understood. Seeing the raw pain surrounding Lauren all day had made me feel protective of her, and I wasn’t even her family.
“Shall we have a seat, and you can tell me more about how you went about making the changes to your ranch and how long it took to be profitable again?” He waved toward the love seat and two armchairs in front of the fireplace. Made of worn leather and aged tapestry, the furniture appeared to have been on the estate for decades.
I’d just headed for a chair when a cold, dark voice halted my steps. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing here?”
The sound of the gritty, sexy voice that had almost undone me this weekend caused me to nearly trip. It was only Adam’s hand on my elbow that stopped me from falling face-first into a coffee table.
Panic filled me at the same time goosebumps littered my skin. My head swiveled to the door of the library and met eyes shooting lightning bolts at me just as they had yesterday morning. The electricity that zapped through the air was as much chemistry-riddled attraction as it was confusion. Mine and his. My mind whirled with the same exact question that had spun from his lips.What the hell is Rafe doing here?
As he stalked toward us, the simmering anger he’d briefly shown disappeared behind the stoic wall he was so good at assembling, and I couldn’t help the instant craving for the Rafe who wasn’t in control. The one who had shown his real emotions as he’d devoured me.
When he reached us, he leaned in, snarling, “It doesn’t matter. Whatever excuse you used to get in these doors, you can take with you. I want you off my property. Now.”
“Jesus, Rafe,” Adam said, stepping in between us. “Stop threatening our guest.”
“She’s not a guest. She’s a liar. Probably a blackmailer or maybe a simple thief. Have you checked the silverware?” His tone was as icy as it had been when he’d found me with Lorenzo, and it cut me just as sharply. I swallowed hard, guilt sifting through me because we’d just been talking about stolen jewels that were now, in all likelihood, in my possession.
Rafe saw my guilt and misread it, taking it as a sign I’d personally done something wrong. Before I could defend myself, he cut in, “I knew it.” Disappointment bled through every syllable. “What exactly did he send you for? And what did he promise you for delivering it?”
“Dad?” A bewildered voice reached us from the doorway.
Rafe’s daughter had been a bodyless voice the other night, but as I took her in, I could clearly see him in the shape of her eyes—a deep, warm chocolate set below dark brows that furrowed just like his. But it wasn’t the way she looked like him that hit me with a sudden shock, but how much the teenager looked like Lauren. She was clearly the girl in the photograph with Lauren and Spencer from the Harrington Ranch website.
I’d thought the girl was Lauren and Spence’s child. How could she be Rafe’s? How did Rafe even belong here? He’d saidmy property, hadn’t he?
My mind spun with so many questions I couldn’t keep track.
“Go to your room, Fallon,” Rafe commanded. As a teenager, I never would have disobeyed an order said in such a steely tone from my father. Even when I’d rebelled and gotten into mischief, if Dad had spoken to me like that, I would have turned tail and run.
